Experiences with hearing loss.

[steveracer]

I started wearing hearing aids at 38 when I came home from my second tour in Iraq.
Still in the service, and still wear them 18 hours a day.
Be careful with your hearing, because once it's gone...

 

[macgrumpy]

Slamming your wallet down and your tinnitus were purely coincidental, there is no way that the wallet could have created enough impact energy to damage normal hair cells.

My father's huge hearing loss occurred as he talked on the telephone, he just suddenly lost his hearing in mid-conversation and his tinnitus started. He was in his late 40's at the time and had spent a lifetime of not wearing hearing protection in loud industrial environments and shooting, it all simply caught up to him while he was on the phone.

I have tinnitus too (a career in the Marine Corps, thank you very much), and you may or may not know that the hair cells are the key. The ringing is caused by damaged hair cells that are misfiring and stimulating the nerves in your ear, the brain thinks that these are sounds from outside your ear and simply causes the brain to register them as ringing sounds. The hair cells can be damaged from high volume AND high impact incidents. High volume is easy for everyone to understand but high impact incidents aren't as well known. Any time the pressure in your ears changes very quickly they experience high impact damage. That could be due to quick altitude changes or concussion from explosives or anything else that changes the air pressure quickly.

 

[12Pump]

Slamming your wallet down and your tinnitus were purely coincidental, there is no way that the wallet could have created enough impact energy to damage normal hair cells.

Well, the reason I related one as having to do with the other is because it made a loud "BANG" when I slammed it down, and was loud enough to make my right ear (the one closest to it) ring, and it hasn't stopped ringing ever since.

 

[macgrumpy]

And as I said, my dad's tinnitus started during a phone conversation, neither caused the tinnitus that happened, they were just arbitrary events that occurred when those hair cells died.

 

[natman]

Well, the reason I related one as having to do with the other is because it made a loud "BANG" when I slammed it down, and was loud enough to make my right ear (the one closest to it) ring, and it hasn't stopped ringing ever since.

I suspect that the damage was already there and the wallet slamming triggered the ringing. The straw that broke the camel's back.

 

[jmorris]

I have a 30 dB hearing loss at 3000 Hz from a single, non gun shot event.

Learn to sleep with the TV on and double plug when you shoot, mow the yard or pretty much anything that can make it worse.

 

[KevininPa]

You obviously have......

.......a Costanza wallet and need to clean that baby out!


I have Meniere's disease. My right ear went pretty much like that. Now I have constant tinnitus in that ear. On my "good" days I hear the Charlie Brown teacher talking to me while conversing with someone. Wah,WAH,WAH,WAH,WAHHHH. Kind of a drag. But that's not the part that bugs me. It's the bad balance that gets to me. Menieres is the deterioration of your inner ear. I had to leave being an union electrician and took an assembly line job. No longer good to be up on ladders and other high places anymore. Also get vertigo on occasion. Yeah baby! Nothing like the bed spins for a couple of hours! And that's without even drinking!

Anyways, check in with a good ENT doc. And then get a second opinion. Just my $.02. General practitioners don't know this stuff.

 

[Red Wind]

I started wearing hearing aids in 1987. Between a maternal family history of severe nerve deafness, and 6 years of exposure to gunfire, particularly M60 tanks with 50 and 30 calibers blasting away beside my APC, my hearing is almost a flat line on any test I take.

Technicians just sadly shake their heads and look mournful when I step out of the booth. So, whatever you got left, protect it like gold, as many on this thread have already said. Once it's gone, it's forever. And in my case, even the most advanced hearing aids only help to a very small degree..

I've just learned to cope for almost 30 years. Things could always be worse. At least I can still listen to Sinatra in a very quiet environment.

 

[mnrivrat]

The obvious is that your wallet needs to be lighter. My X wife was realy good at that and I learned from the best. Just send it to me and I will take care of that for you.

Now with that said I am sorry to read about your problem. Tinnitus . and hearing loss are life effecting issues. I know, because like many have answered, it effects communications, sleep, and relationships between those of us who can not hear well and those that have trouble understanding our problem.

I've had significant hearing loss since preschool. Likely caused by untreated ear infections. Share cropper children didn't get to see doctors when I was young.

I agree with a previous poster , that you should get another opinion. There are some treatments for tinnitus. Do it ! It may expand your options for treatment.

 

[gunhack]

whaa .. ?

speak up, boy .. !!

 

[captainamerica]

.......a Costanza wallet and need to clean that baby out!


I have Meniere's disease. My right ear went pretty much like that. Now I have constant tinnitus in that ear. On my "good" days I hear the Charlie Brown teacher talking to me while conversing with someone. Wah,WAH,WAH,WAH,WAHHHH. Kind of a drag. But that's not the part that bugs me. It's the bad balance that gets to me. Menieres is the deterioration of your inner ear. I had to leave being an union electrician and took an assembly line job. No longer good to be up on ladders and other high places anymore. Also get vertigo on occasion. Yeah baby! Nothing like the bed spins for a couple of hours! And that's without even drinking!

Anyways, check in with a good ENT doc. And then get a second opinion. Just my $.02. General practitioners don't know this stuff.

The non-stop ringing and even my moderate hearing loss that is obviously progressing are no picnic to live with and know will likely worsen.........but the 10 to 15 year battles I've been having with vertigo has often left me near helpless and quite debilitated. So far doctors have treated my for various inner ear infections possibly from allergies and labyrinthitis and I'm not saying they are wrong but I wonder if more is going on. Vertigo and other symptoms are always in the background. It never goes away.

 

[hemiram]

My dog King was getting old and one day he started stumbling around. It was scary, and I thought he was having a stroke. Then I saw his eyes darting back and forth at a high rate of speed, and I remembered that it's common for old dogs to get, it just hadn't happened to one of mine before. Happily, he made a 24 hour recovery and he was ok until his final illness. I wondered what it was like, and a couple of years after he had it, I "popped my ears" while driving and suddenly, the world started spinning around. It was horrible. I managed to not crash my car and stumbled into the day care place my dogs were at. As long as I didn't look up, I was ok, but if I picked my head up, everything started spinning around. After about an hour of standing there, I was a little better,and was able to drive home. I decided to wait a few hours before going to the ER. I told a friend of mine if it didn't go away by 9pm, I wanted him to take me to the ER. About a quarter to nine, I swallowed a bite of sandwich and my ears popped again, and I was fine. I was scared to pop them for a long time afterwards, even though I don't hear well at all unless I do it constantly

My mother had what they thought was Meniere's disease back about 30 years ago. It turned out it was something else in her inner ear making her have her vertigo episodes. It took 2 years for it to finally resolve itself completely. Her hearing got really really bad the last 20 years she was alive. Her main health issue as she got older was she had Mono at 66 years old! She complained about being tired all the time and the first thing the doctors thought of was that she was depressed, but she was just really tired. Her doctor decided to give her the test for mono, after the other doctors laughed at him, and sure enough she was positive. Just like my sister when she had it when she was in high school, a lot of rest and she was ok.

 

[bayou5252]

I'm in my mid 60's but have been blessed with very good hearing. I wouldn't have known that I have good hearing but for folks around me who constantly ask me to turn up the tv and such. Certainly not bragging, just taking note of my blessing and good fortune.

But my ears have been sensitive to loud sounds for as long as I can remember.

I always carry cotton balls in my pockets to stuff some into the ears at times. Using a lawnmower, a power drill, hammering a nail, any power tool, even at someone else's house and the radio/tv is too loud, I always plug up. The cotton takes the "sting" out of high pitched noises.

At the range, it's always double ear protection - first plug up with cotton and then ear muffs on top of that.

Since I've been blessed with good hearing, I'll do whatever it takes to protect it........

I truly feel sorry for those whose hearing has been impaired as I have relatives with impaired hearing, and I see how frustrating it can be to them.....

I've always been very nearsighted, so I guess it's true when they say nature compensates in other ways.........

Bayou5252

 

[hdwhit]

Well, I don't know what caused my high-end hearing loss, or if this ringing in my right ear ... will ever go away,..

Unprotected exposure to gunfire, even .22 rimfire, even once, can be enough to cause permanent hearing loss. I lost my high-end hearing to 12 rounds fired from a .22 revolver in 1983. It has not returned. I also simultaneously started having tinnitus (i.e. ringing in the ears) which waxes and wanes in severity but never goes away.

Protect your hearing every time.

 

[hdwhit]

captainamerica wrote:

I wonder if more is going on.

Could be.

Vertigo may be a problem of the inner ear or the central nervous system. I know this isn't a medical forum, but you may want to consult with a physician; perhaps an ear-nose-throat specialist. If the cause of the vertigo is not your ears but a disease of the central nervous system it could be something serious so you should not delay seeing a doctor.

Vertigo can also be a complication of long term alcohol abuse. If that's the case, you may want to ask your doctor about whether you would benefit from treatment with naltrexone (see http://www.onelittlepillmovie.com/) as part of the "Sinclair Method".

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I took one of my earplugs out for a second while shooting alone once, because I thought I heard a dirt bike coming. I wanted to be safe. When the bike disappeared in the distance I forgot to put my plug back in. One round of 45 acp was all I needed to remind myself of my mistake.

On very rare occasion, that ear will get a very sharp and loud ring to it that passes in about a minute's time. It's weird, and infrequent, but worries me quite a bit. I'm only 35. My hearing is my sharpest sense, and the thought of losing it or damaging it is unappealing. That auditory sensitivity makes me very sensitive to annoying, loud, or persistent sounds. Tinnitus and ringing in my ears would drive me to insanity and suicide in short order.

I can't stand change jingling in my pocket.................. and that's why I work in the woods, where it's quiet.

 

[medic15al]

I have never known normal hearing. I was born with profound deafness in both higher tones and volume, and have worn hearing aids since I was 3. I was born in 1970 so in 1973 thru 2000 hearing aid tech was analog and not that great. Now they combine digital and analog and it is wondrous!

I have been relearning how to listen with the new tech, and another thing that helps is the closed captioning and SDH Subtitles for Deaf and Hard hearing. I really learned to equate conversational voice to what is being said.

The hearing aids block my ears off to sound pressure waves and that can affect hearing direction and some tones, but also keep a gunshot from hurting if I am not aware someone is shooting.

When I shoot I use plugs and muffs, coupled with my deafness for the most comfort.

I can function with my hearing aids as a normal person, sounds and music, Just individual words in a conversation or song may be missed.

I functioned 15 years as a paramedic and 8 as a police officer with very few problems. Sirens didn't help tho.....

 

[KevininPa]

The non-stop ringing and even my moderate hearing loss that is obviously progressing are no picnic to live with and know will likely worsen.........but the 10 to 15 year battles I've been having with vertigo has often left me near helpless and quite debilitated. So far doctors have treated my for various inner ear infections possibly from allergies and labyrinthitis and I'm not saying they are wrong but I wonder if more is going on. Vertigo and other symptoms are always in the background. It never goes away.

I went that route with general practitioners for years before I finally got fed up and went to a specialist. They treated me with medicines for ear infections, sinus infections,...etc. They would never listen to me when I told them that the symptoms were only in one ear. thus the ENT doc. First one nailed it. Second opinion corroborated it. Follow the directions and it's been under control, not gone, but at least under control.

 

[captainamerica]

I went that route with general practitioners for years before I finally got fed up and went to a specialist. They treated me with medicines for ear infections, sinus infections,...etc. They would never listen to me when I told them that the symptoms were only in one ear. thus the ENT doc. First one nailed it. Second opinion corroborated it. Follow the directions and it's been under control, not gone, but at least under control.

Thanks, Kev. I do appreciate the advise. Also, there's another Kev on this thread and I'm the third one! Thanks again.

 

[MICHAEL T]

I went in for a hearing test a few years back. Put me in a booth ,headphones and a thing to hold and push the button when I hear tone. . I was in their a few min guy opens door. Looks at me and said you never pushed the button. I said never heard anything .
He starts checking every thing . OOOPs not plugged it to wall. Cleaning crew must have on plugged as I was 1st up that day.
A 44 mag from a pistol to me with out plugs. Is like a old cap gun going off . Not really loud and I live with the ringing in both ears 24/7

 

[OilyPablo]

Similar story - new booth but noisy has heck all around it and booth was not fully sound deadened yet. Makes test a challenge.

 

[TreeDoc]

Hunting at a very young age and growing up on a farm. I have been around loud equipment most my life and at 51 am now paying the price. Ringing in both all the time. I'm used to it, but use the phrase "whada say" more frequently these days.

 

[Sovblocgunfan]

43 here, with asymmetrical loss for about 10 years now. I was shooting a mosin (m44) and took plugs out / forgot to put plugs back in. Before, the ringing in my ears had always gone away. Not that time.

I think it's gotten a little worse since then. I can't stand to be in noisy crowds (like at a restaurant) where I can't follow what my table-mates are saying. In my gym where the music is at louder volumes I have to get close to my coach because he sounds like he's mumbling, when he's really just speaking normally.

Incredibly frustrating. Can hearing aids cancel the tinnitus?

 

[Jovita124]

I have the ringing in my ears but the continued progressive hearing loss is definitely worse than the ringing.

I think you could be having tinnitus as ringing in the ear is the major symptom of that. My mom was recently diagnosed with with it and hearing loss and her specialist suggested her to use any of a good hearing style ( http://www.hearingsolutions.ca/products/hearing-aids ). But in her case it was age-related hearing loss. Now she can hear quite reasonably with this stuff. My advice to you is to book for a hearing test at any registered clinic and get the treatment as soon as possible.

 

[RavenTai]

I was in aircraft maintenance for 18 years, I have the ringing, I also have trouble hearing over any background noise. Hearing tests show degraded hearing.

So far I just live with it. Turn the tv up ect. My family knows to speak up if they want to be heard.

When it gets bad enough I will have to take action, interested in what people further down this road find that works.

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